Maximum Ride: Losing Our Ground
by BlueWillow29
Summary: Set after MAX. Maximum Ride had always been in control, always been in charge, always stood her ground. But, now things are changing in the flock and she's losing her footing. Will they finally discover who the traitor is?
1. Prologue: Demons and Angels

Disclaimer: We are most definitely not James Patterson, so we don't own the Maximum Ride series, or any of the characters.

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**Prologue**

It had gone under my radar for so long, but now that it was right in front of me, I could see the awful, awful truth.

One of my lifelines, one of my flock members had gone bad.

Do you have _any _idea what I'm talking about?

I'm Maximum Ride, Superhero(Kidding!), Avian-American, mutant, girlfriend, surrogate mom, sister, friend, and leader, oh, you did know that?

Good, then you've read the other books, but in case you suffered a recent blow to the head, I'll tell you just a bit about the rest of my Flock.

Fang, he's my boyfriend, actually. He's the very definition of the strong, silent type.

Iggy, the blind pyromaniac, who can cook a mean, well, anything. He's a great cook.

The Gasman, Gazzy for short, Iggy's non-blind protegee, he and Ig are really into building bombs and making things explode.

Nudge, the motor-mouthed fashionista. Also known as the Nudge Channel.

Angel, My baby, the little girl I'd raised since Jeb disappeared. She hit the genetic jackpot, she's got a ton of powers, like reading and controlling minds, oh, and she can talk to fish.

Lastly, Total, The dog. . . . with wings. . . . that talks.

Things had started going downhill a while back, but it almost completely escaped my eye, I could never see that one of the members of my flock was going bad, changing slowly, right before our eyes. I didn't even try to stop it, because I had no idea it was happening.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

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This chapter is a little short, the full length chapters will be longer, don't worry.

Thanks a ton for reading! Keggy promises we'll finish and Heggy does not, because Heg is a terrible procrastinator. :P Seriously though, we plan to finish this before the new book comes out, which means that unless life gets in the way too much, you'll get around two chapters a week, . . . we hope.  
Oh, and Keggy would like for you to Review, no, she would LOVE for you to review! Tell us what you think  
Fly on, Max fans ~ Keggy and Heggy


	2. Chapter 1: Wedding Bells?

** Thanks to clairroxx101, Polodo, and L for reviewing! :D Keggy and Heggy would like to say that you guys are awesome, because reviews make us feel all fuzzy inside!**

** Heggy (who is writing this, BTW) is having a hard time focusing, cause her favorite show, Total Drama Island, is on. XD Just had to share that. **

** Here's chapter two, which is a little short for Heggy's taste but Keggy wanted to stay true to MR style and write shortish chapters, but that means we can probably write these chapters more quickly! No, this chapter wasn't written in a day, we have a couple chapters already written up, but one of us *cough*Keggy*cough* is taking a while to write up her section, so chapter 3 might take a bit. **

** We'd also like to thank our friend in real life, McKenna. She's sat through us talking about where we're going with this story and how it's going to play out and such, so, if you're reading this, thanks McKenna! =3**

**Alright, sorry that was so freaking long! Thanks for reading this Author's Note, here's chapter two to 'Losing out Ground'!**

**Pairings: Well, most of the pairings that'll happen in this story are at least hinted at in this story, so we might as well tell ya, huh? There's the canons, Total/Akila and Max/Fang, as well as a love triangle between Ella/Iggy/Nudge.**

**Disclaimer: We're two hyper fangirls, thus, we're not James Patterson. That means we DO NOT own Maximum Ride, or any of characters in the series!

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**Chapter 1**

It all started the night of Total and Akila's wedding. Yeah, you read that right, they decided to go through with it, lil' Total growing up so fast!

I was, very much to my displeasure, in a very (yep, you guessed it) _pink, poofy_ dress. (I know everyone who knows me is like, "What the heck?! Max?! In a _dress_?!" My response? It was so not my choice. Blame Ella.) My little winged wonders, Nudge and Angel, were also in pink dresses, though they were much more excited than me.

Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy had all got roped into black tuxedos, don't ask me how, Mom must have secret magic powers or something.

Of course, because they were them, Fang refused to wear a bow-tie and had two extra buttons undone and his hair looked just as messy as always, though it was lacking the mud and dirt that usually caked it. Gazzy refused to wear the jacket and told me he planned to wrap the tie around his head right before we walked out(I didn't doubt him, I was just glad the only attendants were the Flock, my real family, and I), and he still looked freaking cute!

Iggy, on the other hand, wore the suit in full, just the way they wanted, because he stated, "I can't see it, so why should I care? Might as well make them happy."

I happened to notice that Ella was paying a whole lot of attention to him, which made me feel sort of uneasy, though I wasn't sure why.

At the moment, we were getting the bride and groom into their clothes, in totally different sides of the house.

Angel was getting Total into his suit in Ella's closet (the wedding was being held in the back yard) on the top floor and Nudge and I were pulling a dog-sized, pure white wedding dress on a moody Malamute in the big bathroom on the bottom floor.

Nudge was helping Akila get her head out of the dress and I was pulling her front paws through the little arm holes, and I could tell something was off, because Nudge _wasn't talking_.

I tugged the skirt down a bit, then turned on the little chatterbox, "Okay, Nudge, what's wrong?"

She blushed and averted my eyes, "Nothing."

I just stayed silent, knowing her, she'd be filling it with chatter soon enough. She broke quickly and when she began, her voice was suspiciously cheerful, "Ella sure seems to like Iggy, huh?"

"What makes you think that?" I asked, alarmed at the thought of it, my insides were squirming again, why was that?

"Well, she looks at him a whole lot," She started and I sighed. Now, I was in for it, I had done the dreaded thing. The thing all Flock members fear.

I had turned on the Nudge Channel.

"And, she, um, she like always compliments his cooking. She bats her eyelashes like a total flirt, she is flirty, and don't you deny it, Max, we know her, she's your sister and I'm one of her best friend, but anyway, she winks at him even though he can't see her, like at all, so it's totally stupid! Plus, she always giggles at like, _everything_ he says, seriously, everything! Even when he's not being funny! Which is rare, sure, cause he's usually super funny, but still!" Nudge huffed, throwing her long arms into the air, then she lowered them and looked me straight in the eye, "But she will _never_ be the right girl for him."

I blinked in shock, "W-what do you mean?"

Nudge bit her lip and looked like she was about to continue, but Angel took this moment of silence to walk in carrying a handsome dog.

"Doesn't Total look super cute?" Angel giggled, hugging the little tuxedo-clad dog tightly, so he didn't get a glance to see his bride. Said dog glared at her and scoffed, "Angel, I am most definitely not cute. I am-"

"Total!" Nudge screamed, "Get OUT of here you idiot!"

"Why?" Total asked, trying to look at her, but Angel hadn't retrieved her hold yet.

"Because, the groom isn't supposed to see the bride before the wedding, dude," Iggy stated, walking in and looking important, "Uh, right?"

"That's just right, Iggy," Nudge smiled hugely and nodded. I felt a jerk run through my body when I realized the answer to the question I hadn't been able to ask her. I blinked back shock and smirked, "Right, so Total, get the heck outta here!"  
Angel put Total in her bedroom a few feet away, covering his eyes to make sure he saw nothing as they left, then ran back and sat down on the floor in front of Akila and brushed her fur with Ella's favorite brush(I didn't find this out until later when my little half-sister freaked.). Iggy grinned and shrugged modestly, "Thought so, well, gotta go talk to a girl about walking her down the aisle. Ella, you know."  
I didn't think, just blurted out, "Actually, we were planning on having you walk Nudge down. Gaz is the ring-bearer and Angel and Magnolia are flower girls. Fang and I are the best man and maid of honor, oddly enough. So, we need you to walk Nudge here down, cool?"  
Iggy shrugged, nodded, and gave Nudge a sly grin, "Well, alright then."  
I knew it was just senseless flirting and that there was too big an age difference for it to work out, but I felt I'd done a good deed when Nudge's face lit up. It had been my mission my entire life to take care of my Flock and make sure they weren't hurt. Only now did it occur to me that this included matters of the heart.

At that exact moment Fang walked in.,"What's with all the yelling?" He said. Then, he noticed me and looked stunned. I guess it was because of the dress and all. I smirked at him, then I shot him a look that said 'Gotta Talk to You Later'.  
He pulled up his suit sleeve and looked at his watch, "Its 5:30."

"Guys, we better go downstairs. Mom and Jeb are there probably wondering where the heck we are," I said standing up a little shakily from being on my knees for so long.

"Well , lets be off then!" Iggy cried in his best imitation of some hero, holding out his arm for Nudge .She smiled like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time(okay, that was a bit ironic, since Iggy is a blind man and all. . .) as they walked out the door, together. Behind them went Angel, who'd retrieved the groom and was holding with a hand over his eyes again so he couldn't see, waving to Gazzy who was down the hall. Fang held open the door for me as I walked out. He let the door close behind him, but he grabbed my arm, then gave a look that plainly read, 'It's Later'. I took a deep breath, then began recounting the events with Nudge.

"Nudge and I were dressing Akila and out of the blue she says 'Ella sure does like Iggy.'" Fang's eyes widened at that, but he was silent, "Then she went into a _long_ rant about Ella batting her eyelashes at him and smiling and that its completely wasted on him. Then she says ' She'll never be the right girl for him, or something like that. It was, weird."

"I probably shouldn't have asked," He smirked and I grinned, glad to have it off my chest. Fang was good for things like that, just to let me tell him minor things so they didn't all suffocate me. I grabbed his hand and we walked down the hall, sappily enough, little did we know what lay ahead of us.

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**Yeah, the end was fluffy, but Keg's a major Fax shipper and she wrote that part, so, yeah!**

** Please review, it makes Keggy happy! And makes us update faster! Actually, no it doesn't, but could you pretend it does and review? XD**

**Fly On, Max Fans ~ Keggy and Heggy**


	3. Chapter 2: Why was I expecting this?

**Once again, Heggy here, because I'm the one with the editing skills and WordPerfect (yes, it is a rather crappy program at times, but i grew up using it. XP)! So, yeah. . .**

** There are plenty of reasons why this chapter took so long to update. =D **

** 1. Keggy wanted to write the Author's Note, so she was going to e-mail it to me and I would put it up, but, we also wanted to update soon, because we have the awesomeist (if that's even a word, I _know_ I spelled it wrong.) reviewers.**

**2. We've both been consumed with other awesome fics. XD **

**and Heggy's main excuse, 3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Go read it. Now. It's amazing! =D **

** But, yeah, you probably aren't even reading this, are you? If you still are, thanks a ton for sticking through this A.N.! Also, I'm not sure abotu Keggy, but Heggy is a little sketchy on how in character Fangles(Fang) is. Feedback?**

**Disclaimer: We definitely don't own Maximum Ride, if we did, MAX would be called Waterwings(the original name!), Fang would be called The Sky is Falling(also the original name), Nudge and Iggy would be together, and Fang and Max would've gotten together a heck of a lot sooner. So, yeah, we don't own Maximum Ride. :) Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Fang's POV**  
My hand was wrapped in Max's as we headed down the hall, and what she'd told me kept running through my head, after a moment I dismissed it. Not really my problem.  
I glanced over to see Angel was humming to herself with her little hand covering Total's eyes, and I couldn't help but smile slightly at how _cute_ she could be, when she wasn't asking you to jump off a cliff, no questions asked.

We headed outside to see Ella, Jeb, and Dr. M waiting. They all smiled and waved at us. We went through some last minute things, and began to get everyone in place for the doggie wedding.

I know I'm taking on a Max-ish quality by saying this, but it must be said.

We were having a perfectly wonderful day, so, of course, something simply had to go wrong, didn't it?

At that moment 'new and improved' Flyboys decided to grace us with their wonderful presence, so they came running in from every hallway, every room, and every closet. There was no way out. Beside me, Max hissed through her teeth and tore the dress off over her head, ripping a huge hole through the side and revealing shorts and, uncharacteristically, a tank top. I felt like she knew that this would happen, but then remembered that she always told us to be prepared for anything at anytime. Who knew she took her own advice?

"Flyboys? Attacking us on a seemingly calm day? Where have I seen this before?" Iggy cracked once Max informed him of the situation and gave him all the information he needed.

I jumped on the nearest one, kicking him at the certain angle that had defeated legions of robots before. No effect.

Great, just great.

I gave the one I was fighting a roundhouse kick to the neck and nothing happened.

The robot didn't even step back, just came at me again. But, I was ready. It lunged at me wanting to knock me down to the ground Instead of dodging I flung out my wicked wings and jumped into the air, knocking him over on a downstroke of harsh air. The rest of the flock did the same as me. All except Max. I freaked slightly and looked around for her. Where was she?! No, no, I couldn't lose Max, not my Max. Finally, I spotted her. There she was in the middle of the Flyboys kicking and punching like she'd been doing it for years, which, you know, she _had._

She had about several dead ones laying around her. I hadn't even taken a single one out!

She looked up, seeing all of us and looking a bit shock and almost giving a robot an opening. She turned back, gave the Flyboy she was fighting one last good kick at it's chin, knocking its head back but not off. She unfurled her wings, knocking two Flyboys over in the process, and took to the air to join us.

When she reached us, I turned her around in the air to check her for any major injuries. She had cut on her cheek that was spewing blood, a bruise already turning blue on her arm, bloody raw knuckles, and missing a shoe(I didn't want to know). She was definitely the worst injured, not that she even seemed to notice, that's my girl.

She opened her mouth to tell us something, but the rest of the Flyboys decided to chase after us, they took to the air.

"Follow me!" Max yelled. She headed downward toward the wide open window at the end of the hall and pulled her wings in at the last minute.

We all copied her and pulled up just as we exited to let the next Flock-member through. I spied a pond a few feet away and I got an idea, we'd done it before, but hopefully it would work. These Flyboys were a heck of a lot stronger, but their intelligence level was the same. I met Max's eye and we both nodded, dark smiles playing on our lips.

As we came near the pond we all suddenly went into a steep dive heading straight toward the water. Just as we had hoped, the Flyboys followed, we knew they would, they were programmed to follow us, no questions asked. As we came near the water, we pulled out of the dive. We shot straight into the sky like arrows.

When we were a good ways away we turned around to see that all the dumb-bots had plunged into the water never to come back to the surface again.

We cracked up, as in rolling on the ground, holding your gut laughter. Anyone passing by would think we were crazy. Finally we stopped laughing like Hyenas and headed back to Max's backyard. Dr. Martinez rushed over to us and pulled Max into a long hug, making our fearless leader wince

Jeb came over to me and held out his hand. I ignored it and looked around at the flock, making sure no one was losing too much blood. Iggy had a black eye that was swollen, Nudge with a bloody nose, Gazzy looked alright, just a couple scratches, but he was limping, and Angel. . . I did a double take, nothing, at all. She was spotless. No injury what-so-ever. That kid was getting freakier every day now. I checked my body over, just the usual, at least for a bird-kid, a couple bruises, bloody knuckles, that sort of thing.

Dr. Martinez took us all inside and produced a few first aid kits from who-knows-where, but, hey, she was a vet. I wasn't surprised she had them lying around, especially if you added in who her daughter was. Max instantly took one from her and went to everyone at a time checking them out, using bandages and gauzes here and there. She came to me but I shook my head. She smiled the best she could with her cut cheek, making it bleed even more. She winced, and let out a gasp only I could barely hear. That's my girl.

Once Max and I got patched up, Total and a confused Akila walked in, the former glaring.  
"How dare you!" Total yelled toward the pond, "You simply RUINED my wedding! I will get you! You will RUE this day, Flyboys! Rue it!"  
Max raised an eyebrow at him, to which he replied with, "Egads! Max, you ruined your dress! My wedding day is a disaster! I knew we were too different, dearest Akila, but this is the signs from the gods that our marriage is not meant to happen!"  
Angel picked him up in a hug, "It's okay, Total, we'll hold your wedding another day. Why don't we head out and get something to eat?"  
. . . What the Heck, Total? But I put Total's Shakespearean speech aside and nodded, we couldn't say no to food.

Ten minutes later, the six of us, the two dogs, Max's 'parents' (that ' ' was for Jeb, not you, Doc.), and Ella were all in some big, fancy restaurant. Sickeningly fancy, actually, but that wasn't important.  
The waiter's response was just as shocked as the waiter in New York, his mouth dropped open as one after the other, us bird-kids ordered half the menu. After we were done, he nodded and rushed to the kitchen.

"That went well," I whispered into Max's ear.

"As long as l get some food and its not a repeat of New York, I'm fine," She whispered back smiling.  
"Alright, what are you two lovebirds whispering about now?" Teased Iggy with a smirk, "Be careful you two, poor little Angel here can read minds."

The rest of the flock and Ella snickered. l cleared my throat as Max blushed. I could even feel my own cheeks heat up.

"So when are we gonna have another wedding?" Asked Nudge, after a few moments of awkward silence, I was glad for her big mouth. I instantly got a flashback of what Max had told me about what she said about Ella and Iggy.

"l was thinking tomorrow," growled Total, almost daring someone to challenge him. Max and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.  
"I think we should have it tomorrow, too!" Angel volunteered, slurping down her tea. Nudge nodded, "Totally. Though what can we do with Max's dress? I so don't have time to fix it and how can we find a new one in time?!"  
I rolled my eyes when Max did her best to look sad, "That's awful, I guess I'll have to go in my normal clothes."  
Ella giggled, "As if! You can borrow a dress of mine, you're super skinny!"  
"And super tall," Iggy stated, making Ella stick out her tongue at him, even though she couldn't see. She huffed, "I'm sticking my tongue out at you, Iggy."  
My thoughts wandered to what Iggy had said, the dress would fit Max, but it would be too short, so. . ., "I say you borrow one of Ella's dresses."  
Max whacked my arm, "Sexist pig!"  
Dr. Martinez laughed, "Okay you two, stop it."

We all laughed and I was suddenly engulfed by the sound of a ton of waiters bringing out all of our food.

As everyone else worried about getting their food, I looked over at Max and gave her a quick smile.

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**That Fax ending was entirely Heggy's fault, XD Sorry! She thought it was too bland. Okay, so, review and stuff, cause, then Keggy will ave something to squeal about when she sees Heggy in Science! XD**

** Fly On, fellow Max Fans!~ Keggy and Heggy**

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	4. Chapter 3: Blogging!

**Hey Max fans!! **

**This is Keggy, with my first author's note! First l wanna give a shout-out to McKenna(a friend of me and Heggy's, also a freak of Maximum Ride),and Kendall(man l hope l spelled that right!, lf not....... well ,sorry.) This chapter is for you two!! Now l wanna give a shout out to**

** *Polodo-cool reviews dude!! Keep 'em comin'!!**

***Strawberrry Shortcake123-love your stories!!!**

** You two are super!!!**

** And those who review are AWESOMER!!!!!!**

** For those who didn't............:(**

**This is the first Fang's blog posting in the whole story *go on celebrate l know ya wanna 'cause l did!!!***

** Also a reminder Recycle!!!!,Save energy & water!!!!!! By doin that ur saving the world and the Flock!!!!!**

** _A note from Heggy: Hey guys, the reason this took so long to update is my fault, well, actually, it's my family's new iMac's fault. Keggy had this written down a while back on paper and when I wrote it out on the comp and fixed some minor things and reformated and stuff, I did something really stupid. XD I wrote it out on the first Mac we've ever owned, and I have no idea how to update on there. So, I went through this long process to get it on my and my sister's laptop, and finally, wa-laa! Chapter 3! This chapter starts the very beginning of all the real action. Sorry it's short, but the next chapter will be much longer and more action-packed. Trust me. :) Now, enjoy!_**

**Disclaimer: If we were James Patterson, Nudge and Iggy would already be together, or, at least if Heggy were James P., . . . **

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Welcome to Fang's Blog!  
Today's date: October 24, 2009  
Visitor Count: The thing broke, again.

Yo,  
Fang here, sorry for the slow updates, to be honest, it's been a slow couple of weeks. We've been crashing at Dr. M's for about a month, because Total wanted a 'real wedding'. He's a dog, for crying out loud!  
But, because Angel was behind it a hundred percent, we were roped into tuxs and, in the girls case, dresses.  
Yep, you read that right, Max was wearing a dress. I was in shock. And Nudge was squealing for about an hour when she saw the dress.  
But, anyways, we're all set to marry the mutts, when what could either be taken as a expected or unexpected. Flyboys attacked.  
Why does my life feel like a bad action movie? Seriously, this happens all the time, freaking stalkers. . .  
Anyway, we drowned the dumb-bots and then, because Total was depressed and we were starved, we headed to some fancy restaurant.  
So yeah, a very very typical day, and because you are such amazing followers of the Blog, I'll answer some questions.  
FangFanatic101: Hey Fang, wazzup?! I'm a HUGE fan of urs and I wuz wondering, what r u most afraid of?! DDDDDD:  
Fang: Yeah, not answering that, some freak might be watching my Blog and will use my greatest fear against me.

--WingLover--: Hey, Fang, love your blog! So, I had a question and I was hoping you could answer it. Do you guys ever worry about your expiration dates?  
Fang: Good question, personal, but good. We do worry, sometimes, especially me and Max. Though I figure she worries more about everyone else's date more than her own.

And, that's all I have time for now, I'll get more questions answered soon, got some important stuff to take care of.

Fang out.

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It was practically the middle of the night, and I was up blogging. Just as I was about to answer another question, something -or someone- flew past the window of the Martinez's house. I signed off and published it, then opened the door silently and slipped outside.  
Once I was out, I knew the flyer was exactly who I guessed it was, Max. Something was wrong, I could tell from the way her wings pushed on the air that she was in a hurry, but from what?  
I sighed, but didn't think twice as I snapped out my wings and took off.  
It was Max, I'd do anything for her, even chase after her in the middle of a cold, October night.  
I was officially whipped.

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**_Once again, sorry for shortness! Tell us what ya think, was Fang in character? What do you think is wrong with Max? How did Heggy not find a way to include Niggy?! (XD Yes, she's that obssessed.) So, please, Review! It makes Keggy happy!_**

**_Fly On!~ Keggy and Heggy_**


	5. Chapter 4: Night Flights

** Heggy's back to controlling the Author's Note, did ya miss me? ;P **

** Lots of news from me and Keggy, the one you probably care the most about is that me and Keggy have made a pact. If we post the ninth chapter (including the prologue) before Christmas, we get to write the crossover I'm dying to write. :D And I want to write it so much, so we'll definitely have the chapters up. =3 It's a Codename: Kids Next Door and Maximum Ride crossover and it shall be super fun! **

** But, anyways, in other news, Keggy's birthday is in four days, and we can't decide whether to be happy about this or not, because it means the end of some things that are very important to us (mainly me, but important to Keggy, too.)**

** But, on to the new chapter, the introduction of the actual plot! =D**

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The room was bright and cheery, with plenty of friends and people milling about.

What bothered me was how familiar and unfamiliar the people were. A tall girl had my same brown-and-blonde-streaked hair, though it was curled in painfully perfect ringlets. She was wearing some perfectly matching outfit that screamed designer, and had these freakishly high and oddly sharp heels on, they would've been great weapons, you could have poked an eye out with those things. She was cuddled up in the lap of a boy that was startling familiar, but I couldn't place him, though it felt like I should have been able to.

His style screamed 'poser' as clearly as her's screamed 'prep'. He had this black hair that flopped over his eye and he wore this big t-shirt was ripped and splattered with paint that I knew was on it when he bought it. He actually had black skinny jeans with a real _chain_ on it.

I watched the two for a moment and finally, it clicked. I gasped and not a soul noticed me, so I could guess I was just watching the dream scene, not taking part in it.

It was me and Fang.

My eyes flew over the others in the room and each made me shake my head in desperation and disgust. These _freaks_ were my flock and my family.

There was a dark-skinned girl in this skin-tight midriff top and the shortest skirt I'd ever seen (as well as heels that were most definitely a lethal weapon), flirting with a tall boy with pretty eyes, who was winking and flirting back, holding a spatula and some fireworks.

Nudge and Iggy, sickeningly.

Ella walked over, looking much the same as the Ella I knew, long hair, a pretty dress, and that sweet, innocent face that made you almost trust her instantly. She smiled and started talking to Iggy, making him laugh and ticking Nudge off heavily. I could barely think of that total skank as my little Nudge, but it was her, no doubt.

Perched on the steps were Gazzy and Angel, and how innocent and childish they looked made me feel much better. Angel looked so, normal, with a pretty pink dress and a cute little bow and Gazzy looked so sweet, playing with his cars and making his sister laugh. I grinned, glad at least they were normal.

Why was everything so different, so off? All of our parents were here, looking rich and successful. Then Jeb caught my eye, holding mom's hand and making her smile.

He had no white coat, nothing suggested he was a scientist and I guess that's when I realized.

This is what would have happened, what should have happened, if we hadn't been changed, if we hadn't become mutants.

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I woke with a start, my heart racing, as the dreams settled in. I gave the voice a long, mental cussing-out, because I knew he had something to do with it.

But, of course, not a word.

I was sweating, my sheets tangled around my legs. I yanked my body out of my warm bed and threw my windbreaker on, as well as a pair of jeans. I managed to pull on and tie shoes with hurried, fumbling hands, and then I was gone, out the window and into the night sky, because I was desperate for this feel of the wind under my wings, because I was scared that I'd find they were gone.

Ah, flying. lt's the best thing for a confused and clouded mind.

Like mine.

Right now.

What l had dreamed, it scared me. It actually scared me. What l saw was confusing, wierd, and above all, a nightmare. l thought about it for what seemed like an enternity, l could come up with only one thing. l had had a dream about what the flock would look like without wings. Having no enemies except bullies and mean teachers. No knowing a thing about the school, erasers, or, maybe, each other. l had seen the flock normal. Something we had all wanted for a long time.

As l flew, thinking about the only solution to this strange dream, l felt as if l was being watched.

l turned my head around looking behind me, flapping my wings in a certain way so l was hovering in mid-air.

"Max!"

My head whipped around to see Fang flying twards me. l groaned. What did he want. l wanted to be alone thats the whole reason that l came out here.

l turned around and poured on the speed. l could bearly feel my wings moving, my hair streaming out behind me.

With no warning a burst of pain exploded in my head. My wings stopped working l counldn't move. l felt myself falling. Falling up or down l couldn't tell l was in so much pain. l couldn't do a thing about it. l flt so helpless. A feeling l hated. l kept my eyes shut tightly, trying to keep my brains inside my head.

Suddenly I felt it. My body hitting the ground.

As l hit the ground l heard a terrible 'crunch' sound and a unbearable pain in my right wing. This new pain and my head combined made me want to die. Just to end it all.

As my vision blured going foggy around dthe edges, l saw someone's face.

A face that that l had seen about my whole life, lean in close with a worried expression that only one person in the whole world could do.

Jeb.

* * *

Fang's POV

"Max!"I shouted.

Her head whipped around, eyes locking with mine.

But she didn't wait on me to catch up to her, she just turned around and sped off away from me.

I sighed and kept flying, Max needed me, whether she knew it or not. Stupid hyper-drive, I could be flying for an hour and she could have crossed the same distance in ten minutes, there was no way I would be able to catch up with her, I could only hope she would stop.

I flew, and flew, and flew. And there was no sign of Max.

My wings were aching from the long flight and I knew if I didn't turn back now, I wouldn't be able to fly all the way back, and I was too drained to walk.

I sighed and did a circle in the air, searching for any signs that Max had been there, but there were none. I finally turned around and headed home.

As I flew back to the Martinez's, doubt and fear began creeping into my thoughts, and by the time I slipped in through the window I'd left open, I knew something bad had happened to our fearless leader.

"Flock Meeting, now!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and raced up the stairs, banging on their doors. After much more coaxing, we were all down in the kitchen again.

Iggy's eyes were half-closed, not that it mattered whether they were open or not, and the look on his face was murderous, "What on Earth is important enough that you woke us up at one in the morning?!"

"Max!" I yelled and they all stared at me, not used to me being this animated about anything.

"Yeah, she's not here, we know," Ella, who for some reason had come to the meeting, yawned, "Because she's so special and she doesn't have to get up."

Nudge shot her a glare, "You didn't have to get up either, ya know."

". . . And miss a Flock Meeting? Puh-lease, there's less drama at school," Ella stated, smiling happily, even though it _was_ one in the morning. Nudge rolled her eyes, leaving Ella looking confused. Ella apparently hadn't realized Nudge considered her best non-flock friend a threat nowadays.

"What about Max?" Gazzy finally questioned, looking like he could fall over at any second, "Other than the fact she ain't here."

"That's the point," I sighed, "She's _gone_. She went flying and she looked really upset so I followed her. She went into warp-drive and I still followed her, I've been looking for her for over an hour and she's nowhere to be found. I'm ninety-five percent sure something bad happened."

"Max is, missing?" Ella asked and Nudge gasped. They both wrapped their arms around Iggy and they looked like they could burst into tears at any moment. I nodded grimly, and then came the waterworks. The two preteens sobbed loudly, with tears running down their faces and moans escaping their lips.

"Great, Fang," Iggy snapped, not at all happy with the fact two girls were crying all over him, "Just great."

"Nudge, Ella, you tow can go to bed," I sighed, knowing two emotional, dramatic, and sleep-deprived kids would not be helpful.

"N-no," Nudge whimpered, "I'm part of the Flock, and it's part of my job to make sure everyone in said Flock is safe."

Iggy grinned at her, "That's my girl."

Nudge instantly perked up and let go of him, shooting Ella a face that clearly read, 'Ha-ha-I-win.'. Ella sniffled, missing the look entirely, "Well, I'm going to bed. I'm just a kid, I can't fight like you guys."

Iggy patted her shoulder, and then Ella headed up the stairs. Angel, who had been disturbingly silent through everything, probably taking in all the thoughts around her, finally spoke, "So, are we going to look for her?"

Two answers were given to that question at the same time. One from me, and the other from Iggy.

"Yes."

"No."

I glared at him, "What do you mean, 'no'? Of course we are!"

"Not tonight," Iggy shook his head, "We're all too tired, let's go to bed, and tomorrow morning, bright and early, we'll go looking for Max, okay?"

Before I could tell him that it was most certainly _not_ okay, the others agreed, one a little too quickly, with him and there were all suddenly trailing out of the kitchen, leaving me frozen in shock.

Was I the only one that cared?

* * *

** So? Did you hate it? Like it? Love it? **

** I didn't give this a total read through all together once I had it peiced together (K writes part, then I write part, ect.), so it may have a lot of grammatical errors. The reason I didn't read it through entirely is because my family is watching the final episode of our favorite show, Monk, and I'm getting teary-eyed. :(**

**So, review, we want to know what you think. :)**

**Fly on, Max Fans! ~ Keggy and Heggy**


	6. Chapter 5: True Intentions

Hey peoples!

Keg here to give u the chp you've been waitin' for!

Man, l sound like a salesman.

Guess what? Yesterday was my big 13th!

*pops the 'p'* Yep!

So, that means *crying* l got decommissioned from the KND.

Anyone who can tell me what that is in a review gets virtual cookies(if Heggy doesn't eat them all, she's bad about that).

Oh-Yeah! l wanna give a HUGE thanks to those that favorited our story!!

lt made me feel special. =D

Now, time for Heggy's note! I'm home sick today, my throat's absolutely killing me, stomachaches, headaches, I'm so tired I think I could just drop, the works. . . Not fun! DX

Anyways, this chapter was originally supposed to posted yesterday, but I was worse then, too sick to get out of bed. =C So, the chapter was delayed 'till today, when I could post it. Like, two more chapters 'till we reach our goal! Yay! X3

. . .And now I feel bad for taking up half of Keggy's author's note. . .

Disclaimer: We don't own Maximum Ride, or any of the characters in the series. They all belong to James Patterson.

Warning: This chapter contains extreme doses of one-sided Nudge/Iggy. Squeal and/or run in terror, if you must.

* * *

Max's POV:

Pain racked through me and I opened my eyes. Everything was so blurry, it was near impossible to see anything.

l blinked a few times, so l could focus on what was starring back at me with a huge smile and a painfully familiar face.

l knew that face. That stupid face. That face that l never trusted.

Brigid Dwyer.

"Hey Max, your finally awake. l thought you were dead when the brought you aboard.", she said, a smile on her lips and a laugh in her voice.

I couldn't stop the words, though I didn't really try, 'You Wish' from forming in my head, though I had enough self-control not to say them. I would let her talk and not volunteer anything. Woah, wait, backtrack, . . Did she say aboard?

l looked around. Which was difficult, let me tell you. This idiot had me strapped down. And there were probably more idiots in this joint too.

Looking around l discovered that we were in what looked like a plane.

Yeah, a plane, I realized. l could hear its engines.

"Max, honey, your awake!", said my so-called 'father', coming through the narrow door way, and the words 'traitor' rang through my head. I couldn't stop the angry comeback from escaping me.

"Really?" I asked innocently, then let my voice take on a sharp edge," l thought l was having a nightmare. It looks like I still am."

l paused to enjoy the look of disappointment on his face.

"Where am l?", l demanded, making myself sound as dark and menacing as possible, I ditched the strong, silent act, I needed answers.

"On a plane.", said Bridget.

'_Thank you Captain Obvious._'

"Why are you even here Jeb? Every time I see you my life nose dives."

And at that point it did. l could hear the dull roar of the plane descending.

Just what I need right now, unintentional bad puns.

* * *

Nudge's POV

I groaned and rolled over, deeper into my warm, fluffy bed. I'd gone so long without these simple comforts, and now I intended to enjoy every single second of it until Max made us leave, I always missed mornings like these, where everything was so normal.

I stiffened as last night came rushing back to me. . .

_Max!_

Oh no, oh no, oh no, Max was gone!

I was on panic mode, jumping out of bed, nearly giving Ella heart attack (tragic, really ((note heavy sarcasm))), and yanking my clothes on. For the first time in ages, it didn't matter whether they were stylish. I just needed to get down there to make sure Max was alright!

She was our mom, our leader, our bossy older sister, we had to get her back, we just had to!

I raced down the stairs at break-neck speed, and skidded to a halt as I entered the kitchen, "Is Max back? Oh, I hope she is! It's awful that she's gone, because, she's like, our leader and, like, our sister! Oh, God, is she back? No? Can we go find her?!"

I paused and sniffed, then my eyes widened, "Iggy? Are those chocolate-chip pancakes?"

Iggy rolled his eyes, but grinned at me, the grin that made my heart jump, and nodded, "I figured you guys could use some cheering up. Once Ang and Fang get up, we're going to have a meeting to decided what to do about Max."

I spied Gazzy out of the corner of my eye, and smiled at him for a second before turning back to Iggy. I'm a preteen girl, so of course I can be a bit of a romantic, but I was the never the sappy girl who swooned at the slightest sign of romance, unlike Ella.

But, Iggy had always, always made me feel different. He could give me that swooping feeling I got when we flew even when I was on the ground, he was mine, and that's why Ella and I could never be as close as we were.

Because, the girl who had been my closest friend not that long ago had developed this fascination with _my_ Iggy. The protective edge on my thoughts nowadays scared me a little bit, I had never felt like this. I was too young and too inexperienced to know what the label for this emotion was, a crush, love, obsession, . . .

I sincerely hoped it wasn't the last one.

"Nudge, why ya staring?" Iggy asked, and how he knew my eyes were glued to him, I had no idea. My dark cheeks reddened and I yanked my eyes away, "Um,. . ."

He smirked and my blush deepened. It wasn't fair that he could do this to me so easily.

Angel and Fang finally appeared, and Fang's appearance made me double-take.

Because he was _purple_.

His old, ragged black shirt was a shocking plum and his black jeans were the same shade. My eyes shot back to Iggy, and I narrowed my eyes, all the while trying to hold back a laugh, "You did this, didn't you?"

The pyromaniac just hummed and grinned, not uttering a word.

It was _so_ him.

"Fang, you're purple," Gazzy stated, not even seeming shocked. Fang glared, "Ya think? What did you guys do?!"

"We felt we needed to lighten the mood, so we innocently put some purple dye in the black clothes," Iggy stated calmly and my eyes widened, "_All_ the black clothes?"

Iggy nodded.

"What?! Even my black skirt?! That's like, my favorite! How could you, Iggy? Don't you remember, I saved for, like, a month to get it!" I shouted, standing on the tips of my toes to get in the chef's face. Iggy paled and gulped, "Oops, uh, sorry, Nudge? I didn't know your skirt was in there, . . . I'm sorry."

I frowned and sighed, Iggy could be so sincere, when he wanted to be. I shrugged, "It's okay. Maybe it'll come out."

Iggy gave me another apologetic smile, and turned his attention back to Fang, "Sorry, Boss Man, it was just a joke."

Fang grumbled something under his breath and then motioned to the kitchen table, "Let's just decide when we're leaving to find Max."

Iggy grabbed one plate loaded with pancakes and I took the other and we placed it on the table, then joined our Flock seated around it.

"So, what do we do?" Gazzy asked.

"We go get Max," Fang stated plainly, "Why not?"

Angel and I were too busy to answer, as we were smearing syrup all over the pancakes, and Iggy and Gazzy simply remained silent.

"Why will you guys not help me rescue her?" Fang demanded, anger flaring in his usually calm eyes, and combined with the purple clothes, he was hard to recognize for a moment. Iggy sighed and spoke, his words carrying the sharp edge of a knife, "Did you ever think maybe she wasn't kidnapped? Maybe she's taking a break, or maybe, she left."

There was silence for a moment, then Fang's expression blanked as he soaked in the words, "Left?"

Iggy shrugged, "Maybe she got tired of it."

Where were these words coming from? The tone in his voice and the look in his eyes was so, . . . off. My thoughts wandered, as they had a tendency to do, but then they shifted, coming crashing to a halt, then switching direction.

With no evidence, or any reasoning behind the sudden thought, I was sure Max had left us. I saw it register in all our eyes, Angel was the only one who didn't seem heartbroken. Her eyes were glazed over and she was staring straight ahead, I'd only ever seen that look when she was stretching her powers to the max.

But, she wasn't using her powers now, so I could only suppose she was trying to stay strong, kind of funny that the youngest was the one trying to support us.

I swirled my pancakes in the syrup and sighed, because against all odds, it seemed Max had deserted us.

* * *

There ya go! =3

Oh, and to Illa fans, there is a chance Ella will end up with Iggy, if you guys just hate Niggy. . . So, tell us what you think! Nudge or Ella?

Fly on, Max Fans!~ Keggy and Heggy


End file.
